With the most challenging time of year for Meat Standards Australia compliance upon us, beef producers have been urged to target some key areas to improve their results.
Average MSA non-compliance for Queensland producers throughout 2018 peaked in July at 8.65 per cent, and remained high throughout August and September, as a result of high meat pH, classified as a pH greater than 5.70.
A smaller proportion of cattle, less than 2pc, also did not meet MSA's fat coverage requirements of a minimum of 3mm.
Queensland producers consigned more than 1.42 million head for MSA grading in 2018, and total non-compliance averaged just over 7pc throughout the year.
With 65pc of Queensland drought declared, MSA producer engagement officer, Laura Garland, said there were some key areas that producers can target to address pH and improve MSA compliance.
"Ultimate pH is heavily influenced by on-farm practices and there are two major components to this - nutrition and stress," she said. "Carcase pH levels are driven by muscle glycogen, which is built up through good nutrition and then depleted by stress.
"To address issues of non-compliance to pH, producers need to maximise the amount of glycogen at the point of slaughter by optimising nutrition and minimising stress."
Ms Garland said producers should look carefully at their production systems to identify what might be contributing to issues of high pH.
"Monitor feed on offer and pasture quality to achieve the desired rate of growth and a rising plane of nutrition," she said.
"If you notice higher rates of dark cutting in your cattle despite abundant feed, do a feed test to clarify pasture quality. If pasture is in short supply, supplementing cattle with other nutritious feed sources will help to optimise their performance.
Ms Garland said achieving growth rates of at least 0.9kg/day would help reduce the risk of dark cutting as they would be better equipped to cope with stressors.
